Instant View: Alcoa reports loss but beats estimates

(Reuters) - Alcoa Inc reported a quarterly net loss, hurt by a slump in aluminum prices, even as the company posted stronger-than-expected sales on Monday, slightly lifting its shares.

It lost $2 million, or zero cents per share, compared with a profit of $322 million, or 28 cents per share, in the same quarter last year.

Following are initial reactions of analysts and investors:

ALAN LANCZ, PRESIDENT, ALAN B. LANCZ & ASSOCIATES, TOLEDO, OHIO

"If the market's worried about Europe and the slowdown in China, this is not going to change their attitude whatsoever. The management's doing a good job, cutting expenses and doing the right things, but it's not like you can make a macro call on it. If anything, after you digest the numbers and listen to the conference call, and guidance for next quarter, you could see a change in the stock."

BRIDGET FREAS, ANALYST WITH MORNINGSTAR INC, CHICAG0

"The bright news is what they said on the demand front. I think a lot of people were looking for them to scale back on that 7 percent increase (in global aluminum demand growth) and they reaffirmed it."

"The demand side looks OK, the pricing side looks horrible. That's the biggest driver for why they can't turn a profit."

"They've pretty much made all the headway they can on the productivity gains, (and) they've improved the balance sheet. You look at their downstream business, and they are performing better than they ever did before the recession."

"The numbers look weak and they are, but the revenues are actually above expectations. There is a big focus on revenue this earnings season because people want to see that growth. The market is greeting the numbers, as the stock is being traded higher in extended trade, but I don't it is a projection of what the rest of the earnings season will look like."

PAUL MASSOUD, ANALYST, STIFEL NICOLAUS & C0, WASHINGTON, DC

"Alcoa continues to rely on the mid- and downstream operations to help them in a difficult upstream environment, where pricing for the underlying commodity continues to be quite weak."

"They're still showing that they can generate positive profits, and I think that shows this is a company in transition that's moving toward less metal-price sensitive businesses."

"On cost cuts, I think they're making strides, but more work does need to be done on that front."

KUNI CHEN, ANALYST, CRT CAPITAL GROUP, STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT

"It was basically an in-line quarter, with not a lot of surprises. The key headwind right now is still aluminum prices."

JONATHAN PAVLIK, PORTFOLIO MANAGER AT STEWART CAPITAL

"It's almost uneventful ... aerospace and autos are continuing to show strength, inventories are coming down, which is good, but you still had another sequential decline in aluminum prices for the quarter."

"It's not as bad as some people were thinking. Some people were worried they would say China was really bad in addition to Europe."

"You can't really say it was a great quarter, but it definitely wasn't as bad a some people thought it could have been."